Losing friends
by totalninja
Summary: After team 7 loses Sasuke, Naruto is troubled about confronting Sakura with his feelings for her.


**a/n: hi everyone, this is my naruto fanfic. if you all love sakura like i do, you might understand. please r&r.**

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They came out of nowhere.

Naruto saw five enemy ninjas appear in the trees, sending waves of kunai.

"Sakura!"Sasuke dashed to block the lethal knife flying at his partner. Naruto leaped into the branches, kunai in hand, and began tearing apart the enemy. One by one, their lifeless corpses fell to the ground.

Two were left, and team seven was on it's guard. Suddenly, one of the mysterious fighters appeared behind Sakura with a distraction technique. With a quick strike to her neck, the assassin put her down.

"No!" Sasuke ran to Sakura with an anger in his eyes for the attacker. Naruto jumped into the trees once more to finish off the ninja, he knew that Sasuke would deal with the one on the ground.

Another kunai whizzed by Naruto, barely dodging it he flew higher and slammed his foot into the thrower as Sasuke jammed a kunai into the one on the ground. Watching the man in the tree fall to the ground, Naruto sighed with some relief.

He jumped from the tree and landed silently to see how Sakura was. Sasuke was laying over her, as Naruto guessed, the two were always together. At the bottom of his heart, Naruto knew he loved Sakura, but every time he thought of her he shook the thought off. He knew Sasuke had her and she would never take Naruto.

Naruto walked closer to the pair,

"Sasuke, let's go, we're almost back to Konoha."

There was no reply. Naruto moved in to see a river of blood seeping into the grass. Startled, Naruto grabbed Sasuke and flipped him over. The last kunai that was thrown was lodged into his chest.

"Sasuke?" Naruto urgently jiggled his comrade's torso. "Shit.."

Naruto quickly and carefully picked up Sasuke and put him on his shoulder, careful not to remove, the kunai. Naruto remembered his training, if you take out a knife, it will cause more blood loss. Naruto bent down to put the unconscious Sakura on his other shoulder.

With all his strength, Naruto walked as fast as he could down the familiar road to Konoha. All kinds of things flashed through Naruto's mind, "Will Sasuke survive, Will my legs hold out? Will there be more attackers?"

Naruto could envision all the possible outcomes of his situation. He couldn't possibly fight and watch over his injured allies. All this time, Naruto couldn't help thinking about Sakura in the back of his head. He had never been this close to her, he had barely even touched her. Thinking about her, he ignored the burn in his legs, he was carrying over 200 pounds.

Over a mile later, Naruto reached the gates of Konoha. With his last bit of energy, he brought the two up the steps of the medical wing. With that, Naruto collapsed.

Naruto opened his eyes and brought his body up to look around. He was in a hospital bed, next to Sakura.

"You've been out for three hours,"she looked at Naruto, "How are you feeling?"

"My legs hurt,where is Sasuke?" Sakura looked down and bit her lip to hold back a tear.

"A kunai went through his heart, he died." Sakura looked up at Naruto, her eyes burning a hole through him. A look that said "It's your fault, how could you let this happen?"

Naruto pulled himself out of the bed and limped over to the closet. His clothes were there, with his weapons. He put on his clothes and limped out the door. As he left the room, he turned around to see Sakura. For one moment they looked at each other. It was the look Naruto always hoped for, but the circumstances took away any happiness it could have brought.

Naruto walked back to his apartment. He collapsed on his bed, feeling good to be in his own home. He curled up, wishing all his problems would go away. His partner's death, Sakura blaming him, and all the explaining he would have to do to.

Kakashi entered through the window, leaning against Naruto's wall. Naruto would have normally jumped in fear, but he was to tired.

"I don't blame you, but the Hokage might not understand."Kakashi was about to leave when Naruto rolled over.

"Nobody will understand,"Naruto turned to see if Kakashi was listening. "There were five of them, I couldn't see, but I think Sasuke took the hit for her."

Kakashi nodded understandingly, "She was unconscious, and I carried them back, but she still thinks it is my fault."

"I know the feeling," Kakashi muttered, "When no one understands and you are all alone." With that, Kakashi left, leaving Naruto to think. Naruto stayed in bed for hours.

"Sakura..."

Several months have passed since Sasuke's death. After the funeral, Naruto didn't see Sakura. Team Seven broke up, and the two grew farther and farther apart. Naruto joined Gai's team with Rock Lee. Sakura trained with Ino and her team. Naruto and Lee became better and better friends as the weeks passed. They sparred and trained together everyday. The team of four took on many missions, often splitting into groups of two.

Rock Lee understood how Naruto felt about Sakura. They two often talked about her as they ate noodles or when they returned from a mission.

"Lee, do you know what I've realized lately?" Lee looked up, wondering what his new partner was thinking, "I've realized that not a day has gone by without thinking about Sakura,"

"Me too," Lee gave a nod of agreement and approval. "Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if she was in it?"

"Always," Naruto replied, "I just wish I could get her out of my head. I want a fresh start. If I didn't think about her, I could get so much more done. I would be a stronger ninja if my head was clear." Lee smiled in agreement,

"I'm glad there is someone who understands. I'll see you tomorrow then, bye." With that, the green ninja flew into the trees.

Naruto also trained by himself. Since he left Team Seven, he became much stronger and more disciplined. He tried to control his anger, breathed slower and became more patient. Naruto always thought to himself that if he every saw Sakura again, he wouldn't want to dissapoint her. He wanted to be his best, to impress her. He always wondered if she still blamed him for Sasuke's death.

"People change,"he thought, "I know I have."

Naruto knew that no matter how strong he would ever get, or who he could face in combat, he would never be able to face Sakura. Even thought she was long gone, he felt in the bottom of his heart that he would meet her again. He knew the time would come for straight talking, and he would back down. He felt he had lost a battle that hadn't even started.

He decided to do a little after hours reconnaissance work. Naruto silently crossed rooftops until he reached a vantage point of Sakura's window. She was laying down on top of her bed in her red combat dress, the one Naruto remembered so well. Naruto sat on that rooftop staring at her, wondering what she was thinking. "She can't have completely forgotton me, could she?" Naruto thought of the good old days with the team and Kakashi. He longed for those days again.

"If she has forgotton and let go, why can't I?" Naruto sat there watching for a little while longer, and then he went home.

The next few days passed without any missions. Lee and Naruto practiced hard everyday, honing their combat skills. The next day, the two were called by Gai about a mission.

"I think you are ready for a difficult 'A' level mission." Gai paced through the room, "I have decided that another young ninja go along with you two. She is training as a medical ninja, and I think she will be a valuable team member. I'm sure you know her Naruto, Haruno Sakura.

Naruto and Lee looked to each other in a silent nod of understanding. Gai finished briefing them and told them where to meet the next day.

The team of two were an hour early to the forest clearing to reunite with Sakura. Naruto saw her appear from behind the trees. Her slender yet firm body was just the way he remembered. As the months passed, her dress became tighter with her new womanly curves.Naruto put all his bottled up emotions into a single word.

"Sakura."

"Naruto, it's been a long time." Her childlike expressions were exchanged for a more serious appearance. She was no longer the helpless girl Naruto remembered.

"People change." he thought.

Lee missed Sakura as well, but he knew that it was different for Naruto. He didn't want to rush things but tried to get the group going.

"It's good to see you Sakura, let's get this mission over with. We can all catch up after." Lee's words brought the two out of their trance. They quickly gave nods of agreement and headed off through the trees.

The trio slowed down as they neared their target. From the cover of branches, they could see the group of enemies across the clearing. They appeared in unison, flying into the group, weapons drawn. The three enemies were alert and took their fighting stances.

Naruto and Lee double teamed the enemies one at a time while Sakura held off the others with kunai and shurikens. After many blocks and counters, Naruto caught his opponent off guard and buried a kunai into his throat. The second opponent saw his comrade fall and slammed into Lee. Sakura's focus was broken when she saw Lee smashed into a tree.

"Le-" her scream was cut short when the third fighter flew forward and plunged a short katana into her stomach.

"Sakura!" Naruto saw her limp body hit the ground as his enemy removed his sword from her. Naruto felt a deep rage burning inside him. He sprinted at the killer faster than he had ever moved. His enemy slashed his torso but he couldn't feel it. He could fell red chakura burning his fist as it made contact with the swordsman's head. Naruto heard a loud click in the man's neck as his body flew off into the woods. Naruto turned around and unloaded his throwing weapons into the man attacking Lee.

A weak Naruto fumbled over to Sakura on the ground. He bent down and held her hand while supporting her head.

"Sakura, I won't lose you too..." Naruto squeezed her hand as tears dripped down his cheeks. The pink haired girl brought her head up to look at her wound.

"My blood is almost black, that means it hit my kidney, and I have little time to live..."

"No Sakura, I won't let you die!" Naruto's face wrinkled with frustration.

"You know Naruto, I always liked you." A tear crawled down her beautiful face. Naruto smiled and moved his head closer. He could see a look of approval in Sakura's eyes. He brought his lips to hers, tasting the blood and tears. Sakura squeezed his hand one last time, and then it went limp.

Naruto cried for another minute, then wiped his face and stood up, a stronger person. He picked up his allies, one dead and one unconcious, to once again begin his long and painful journey home.

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**a/n: well, thats it. it was shorter than i thought it would be. anyway, please r&r.**


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